During my nightly call home last night…
“Hey Dad! Guess what?”
“What?”
“I was just playing in Second Life!”
“You were what?”
“Playing in Second Life!”
“What do you mean you were playing in Second Life?”
“I figured it out.” (9-year-old giggles) “It was fuuunnnnn!”
“Wait. Tess. You were walking around in Second Life as me?”
“Yep! And guess what!”
My brain hurts. “What?”
“I got you some free shirts!” (Laughs)
“You what?”
“I got you some shirts!”
“Um, Tess…listen…”
This morning when I log into SL, there I am, standing in front of rack of free shirts somewhere on EduIsland.
Oy.
Technorati Tags: secondlife, learning
I can just imagine the conversations that your daughter had with people who thought the avatar was you!
So the drunken avatar dancing naked on the table in the ‘Blarney Stone’ wasn’t you then 😉 (which would get you uninvited to Millersville!)
You checked the ‘remember my password’ box on an online service on a PC that your kid has or gained unsupervised access to? How many people do I speak for when I ask: ‘How dumb do you feel?’
I imagine that you are probably well able to answer any questions she might have if she went walkabout in a mature sim, and I expect you’ve probably taught you kids how to be safe on the web, but it just goes to show how easy it is in even the most net-savvy house for kids to get into places you didn’t think they could get to.
Our kids know more than we think, and get to places we don’t realise, and honest education, and not denial, is the only way to prepare them for what they might meet.
I hope the tee-shirts are nice!
Mike
Kudos to the obvious innovative spirit of your kid. Wonderful teachable moment- for you and her I bet.
Whew.
You need to share the following article with Tess…
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/posts.html?pg=2
Wondering if you read the article in NY Times titled “Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops.” The article ends by quoting a history teacher. He says “The art of thinking is being lost. Because people can type in a word and find a source and think that’s the be all end all.â€
The art of thinking is being lost. With all that you have written, I would think that you would take offense to such a statement.
You are raising two very bright, independent, innovative kids and encouraging them to learn on their own. Really, what did you expect? 🙂
Thank you very much for the laugh on this Friday!
Great story, but maybe not the sort of thing you want to be advertising – http://scobleizer.com/2006/07/01/im-a-second-life-lawbreaker/
We call that pwned.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pwned
You’re gonna have your hands full with that one! Such intelligence!! My prayers are with you!
Will, your story so made me laugh.
I’d be interested to know what you will do when your twelve and a half year old daughter asks permission to play WOW. A MMORPG rated for 12 and over. Her interest stems from “looking” at her father and teenage brother play the game intensely (in my opinion) for the last year or two.
I know there are social aspects to the game that shouldn’t be dismissed, but still, overall I find WOW’s storyline rather redundant and silly.
After long debate… my 12 and a ½ year old daughter is now allowed to play 1 and ½ hours on Saturdays, but only in the accompaniment of her father or brother. (They are to make sure their daughter or sister doesn’t get involved in being shouted out rudely on the chat). Are all compromises bad compromises? Or would you have negotiated another solution?
In my books any agreement is renegotiable if the side effects indicate necessity.
What will students at the typical liberal arts college be like in a decade ? What will their technology expectation and background be ?
Will Richardson has posted a great story about how his 9 year old daughter “figured out ” Second Life and roamed around as him there, even scoring some free tee shirts.
She’ll be a college freshman in nine years […]